Q&A with chef Marco Pierre White

March 11, 2009|By Monica Eng, TRIBUNE REPORTER

Marco Pierre White ranks as one of England's most famous chefs. But in the U.S., few know his name.

That's about to change with NBC's "The Chopping Block" (set to debut March 11 and to air 8 p.m./7 p.m. CST Wednesdays), in which the chef mentors eight couples (divided into two teams) through a series of challenges meant to prepare them to open their own restaurants in New York.

Like many reality food shows, "The Chopping Block" stocks its larder with sassy couples who battle the opposite team even as they battle each other. At the end of each episode one couple has to be eliminated.

White was England's original bad-boy chef and, at age 33, the youngest in history to win three Michelin stars. Then, at the height of his career, in 1999 the chef hung up his apron and left the kitchen to find himself.

In the past few years he has returned to the public eye, wrote his 2007 autobiography "The Devil in the Kitchen" and hosted the British version of the reality television show "Hell's Kitchen." We caught up with him from his London home.

Q. You've already done a couple of "Hell's Kitchens" in the U.K. Was it different to work with American contestants?

A. I find the Americans are harder working. They've got more backbone and grit. In America you have the American dream. And in England we have the class system. That's the difference.

Q. As you chose the winners of each episode of the show, what qualities did you look for?

A. I wanted to see that they had leadership qualities. You have to be a boss. And you have to make people buy into your vision. Because if you are a leader with a vision you can employ someone to do the service or to cook.

Q. You used to say that you never cooked at home, but these days you're doing a lot more of it, I hear.

A. Yes, my two [teenage] boys, Luciano and Marco, are home with me a lot, and they have fallen in love with organic brown rice. I make them my minestrone, and we also eat a lot of lentils.

Q. What do you hope viewers get out of your show?

A. I want them to be entertained, but I also want to use it to inspire people and make them dream. Maybe it will help a mum or dad who are thinking about their kids being in the industry.